Stopping methotrexate

heathershepherd

Hi. I haven't posted a message for a long time, but do read your posts and have found some interesting and useful. So now I have a little problem of my own I thought this was the best place to send my worries! My GP phoned me this morning to say stop injecting with Methotrexate as my liver count is very high. I was due to inject today. I've been injecting for around 3 years and taking Mtx for another 18 months or so before that by tablet. I also take Arthrotec twice daily (have tried numerous other NSAIDs but they just don't hit the spot) and really know when I forget one. I'm worried about the future now as I just don't know what to expect with no Mtx in my system all of sudden. I have pain most days anyway to some degree, but after time, as I'm sure you all know, this becomes part of your life and you just accept it. But now I'm worried that it will suddenly become unbearable. My GP said he would be contacting my consultant today and hopefully someone will contact me and discuss what happens next, but that perhaps stopping Mtx for a couple of weeks may bring my liver count down. Does anyone have any advice or have had personal experience of this sort of thing and any ideas of what to expect, please? Thanks in advance for your help...

dibdab

Hi, hope you're coping without metho.
When I took it orally had a to stop a couple of times whilst bloods recovered-they gave me a steroid injection to tide over the worst of the pain which certainly helped me. Sadly I had to stop metho eventually as it knocked my immune system for 6 and gave me constant infections, but there are lots of other treatments out there to try so don't despair. Why not ring your rheumatology nurse and ask for advice?

Blessings

Deb x

dreamdaisy

The meth will not leave your system overnight - the usual timeline for clearing it from the system is two to twelve weeks, just like the timeline for it helping. Things may well not be as bad as you are fearing and it will take a while for the residual meth in you to dribble away. I can't tell you what to expect because none of us know how things will turn out but I am sure you will be OK, a couple of weeks off the meth will not do any harm, it may help the liver to settle and I am sure you will be carefully monitored during this time. I wish you well. DD

heathershepherd

Thank you both for such prompt replies - I'm really grateful for that. I'm waiting for the call from rheumatology, so to have some feedback straight away is a great comfort. Thanks particularly to DD for practical information about the length of time Mtx will stay in my system. At least I feel if the hospital doesn't get back to me today or tomorrow, nothing awful is going to happen overnight! Thanks so much. I'll keep reading, and hopefully I may be able to offer some advice to someone on the forum one day. Happy New Year!

stickywicket

As the others have said, this doesn't necessarily mean you will be off the meth permanently, maybe just a week or two to let the liver settle down. It is true that you don't notice the lack of it immediately. I once had to come off it for several weeks before an op. Admittedly, I wasn't doing much physically at the time but I was amazed by how long it took for me to notice any appreciable difference. I hope the chat with your rheumatologist goes well.

skezier

Hi Heather,

Sorry you have had the high liver count and hopefully a couple of weeks of the mtx will see that return to normal for you. Sometimes the bloods just do a blip here and there and it may be no more than that.

Nothing will change overnight bone wise though I d know in my case if I miss a week I do start to get a bit more swelling but it doesn't mean you will have the same at all.

I hope the rumo gets back to you soon and things will become a lot easier as well. Cris x

heathershepherd

Thanks again everyone - it is so good to know there are people to talk to when you have worries. You have all reassured me and definitely stopped me panicking, because the hospital haven't called back today, and if I hadn't had your replies I would have been quite worried by now! You are a great bunch of people!